626 MEP154 – How do elite professional footballers experience a smooth sports career transition and save their marriages to boot?

AbstractBackground 75% of marriages in professional football end in divorce within three years of the player retiring. The presentation is taken from a more extensive PhD study aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the experiences of former elite professional footballers and the wives/partners of professional footballers during the Sports Career Transition (SCT).Objective To illuminate the experiences of the SCT for former professional footballers and to provide recommendations that may minimise the psychological collateral damage of the SCT, enabling a smoother transition from playing the sport. Design Hermeneutic Phenomenology was the chosen methodology for this research. Data were collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews.Setting All participating players had played to an elite standard and/or international level. Participants Nine former players and seven former players' wives/partners were recruited via personal contacts and snowballing techniques. This number of participants was consistent with the requirements of the PhD research methodology.The inclusion criteria for the former players were; a) Over 18 years old.b) English speaker.c) Has played to an Elite level in a country within the FIFA top 50 world rankings.d) Was/Is in a significant couple relationship during the SCT.Interventions and outcome measurements N/AResults Data analysis is ongoing. However, findings thus far indicate that the undertaking of a multitude of protective measures by players well in advance of the SCT can help mitigate the negative psychological/psychosocial impact of the transition.Conclusions The undertaking of planning/training/education required for their next career before the SCT has been seen to be protective.Actively seeking counsel from former players who have successfully navigated the transition, and maintaining open communication with their wives/partners/family, have helped psychologically with the loss of playing football. A further three months of data analysis is currently being undertaken before further definitive conclusions may be drawn.